


emails. they're a magical thing.

by orphan_account



Series: (we're a) work in progress [1]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Also Slow Burn, Deal With It, F/M, Fluffy, i mean its crazy how fluffy this is, like actually so fluffy, lol bye, love that for me, ps mileven, yes they're probably gonna be in everything i write for awhile, ~indie jams~
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-11
Updated: 2019-10-25
Packaged: 2020-12-07 22:22:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20983346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: okay so you know how in all the john hughes-style high school movies the nerds are weirdoes and nobody talks to them except other nerds and asshole jocks who bully them? well forget that from now on. in this au, Hawkins High is a ~strange~ (see what i did there) school. the nerds are cool here. and the party just seems to be some of the biggest nerds in the world. how does el come into this equation, you ask? well, you'll just have to read and see. jk she's a basket case. aka a mileven slow burn hate/love fix? idk, but what i do know is that i've watched the breakfast club waay too many times for it to be ok. lol bye. :)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi so this is my first fic. i hope you hoomanz find it as quirky as i do. anyways onto acknowledgements (idrk how this works but whatevs). i dedicate this work to my best friend, M. you are the Max to my El (in s3 of course) lol. anyways, moving on to the business side of things. if you liked this (or disliked, i won't judge!) please leave a review!!! just make sure you put the title of the fic in the subject line so i don't block you. please, sit back, eat a snack, and enjoy! (even though this probs isn't that great?)  
-charlotte

August 25, 1996  
Hawkins, Indiana  
El, or Ellie as her father Jim Hopper, Hawkins Chief of Police (or as everybody calls him, Hop) affectionately calls her is incredibly bored by school. She knows almost everything they teach and if not, she picks it up quick as a whip. So when it rolls around every year, she feels nothing. Or almost nothing. Hawkins is a small town that sticks to tradition in almost every sense, and Hawkins High is no different…  
Except the nerds are cool and everybody wants to be them. Otherwise, it’s a high school straight outta the movies. Ugly gym uniforms, guys with wandering eyes, shitty cafeteria food, and all-star sports teams. Hey, it may be a nerd-centric school, but there are jocks too! The cliques are normal, run-of-the-mill tropes, with the theatre kids, band geeks (who are secretly the most fun, but the only reason El knows that is because her best friend, Annette is one of them), the jocks, the nerds, and the queen bees. She hates those, but then doesn’t almost everybody? You either envy them or want to gouge their eyes out. She’s the latter.

The nerds are somewhat of the cool kids here, and it’s for really no good reason. Or so she thinks. The A/V club is exclusive, open only to the smartest, most accomplished, most confident kids at Hawkins High. See, El meets all the requirements...except the last one. She’s never been much of a people person, mostly due to distrust caused by her mom, and her mom’s shadowy and unstable past. The president of the A/V is Mike Wheeler. Oh, Mike Wheeler. El used to know him in another time when her mom was still around and made her and Mike peanut butter and Nutella sandwiches for picnics at the park. Sharing secrets and trading promises, “we’ll be best friends forever” But they grew up, and Mike realized that she wasn’t as interesting as Will Byers and Lucas Sinclair, Dustin Henderson a few years later, Max Mayfield a couple past then.

No, she’s not bitter. She’s just learned that people don’t keep their promises. And besides, she has a friend. Annette just happens to be the only one. They met in the 7th grade, and due to proximity (Annette is also unbelievably smart) and being in all the same classes as each other, they started talking. And found out they had a lot in common, bonding over similar hatreds (or as Annette calls them, strong dislikes) and fears, like their shared fear of bumble and carpenter bees. Yes, they know it’s completely irrational, that they can’t or won’t sting but the bees are scary and they’re still terrified.

“Hey, Hop! We need to go to the mall. I need some new jeans.” El called out as she stalked down the stairs. Jumping down the last two steps, she saw Hopper loudly slurping a cup of coffee.  
“Excited for school, huh?” he said hopefully. Knowing his daughter, the existing pants needed to be replaced months ago, but only due to regular wear and tear; El stopped growing at age 14.  
“Why wouldn’t I? I do love correcting teachers and seeing Wheeler get crowned Homecoming King again” she retorted. Sensing she was tense, Hopper didn’t push the topic any further.  
“I got to go to the station for a few hours but after we can go. What do you think of Hot Dog on a Stick for dinner?” he asked her.  
“Hmm, what about Burger King?” she asked, a quizzical, yet endearing look on her face. Hop watched her for a second, face stony. And then he set his coffee down and ran after her. Grabbed her and swung her around, something easy to do due to her petite figure.  
“Put me down! Put me down, asshole!” El shrieked until he relented and put her down. She playfully stuck her tongue out at him and he answered.  
“Ugh fine but only because I love you.” wagging his finger at her.

El’s relationship with her father was nothing short of crazy to any and everybody that isn’t them. They troll each other endlessly and it would be funny to watch, but their constant use of inside jokes makes it almost impossible to decipher their quips. El grabs her fanny pack, something Hop and Annette tease her endlessly about and heads out the door, Hopper trailing behind her, keys in hand. 

After 3 hours at the station reading Great Expectations for the fifth time, Hop tapped El on the shoulder and says, “Alright you about ready to go, kid?”. She got up and they walked out, saying goodbye to everybody, Steve Harrington, the newest deputy and Flo, Hop’s assistant since the dinosaurs roamed the Earth. They got in the Blazer and Hopper put the car in the ignition, selected his radio station, filled with all things Jim Croce. The journey to the mall was short and by the time they got there, only 20 minutes passed.  
El got out, and Hop passed her a short stack of bills.  
“I’ll probably be in Sam Goody when you’re done. Otherwise, meet me at Burger King at 2:30. Love ya, Ellie.” he told her. She said bye and walked into the mall. Even though the mall had at least been there for 10 years, she still marveled at the selection, the variety. Taking the escalator, she found herself at Levi's. El beelined for the back, where her favorite fit of jeans, the 501. Quickly and efficiently, she found three pairs in her size and started browsing the shirts, when she heard a voice behind her.  
“Dude, what are you doing?”  
“Ugh fine, I’ll be the man and do it!” Mike and Will’s voices echoed in her mind, and as she slowly turned around, the world seemed to go in slow motion. Will walked up to her and started talking...talking to her. 

“Hi! I’m Will Byers,” he held up his hand, presumably for her to shake. Instead of doing the nice, friendly thing, she looked at it as if it were a dead fish. He cleared his throat and resumed. “We’ve changed our A/V entry policy, and would like to officially invite you to join,”. El was stunned. Too stunned to speak. Until she could. And the words that came out of her mouth were unstoppable.  
“Are you, like stalking me or something? I’m just trying to run an errand here, and you come up to me with these...out worldly things to say?” she quickly covered her mouth, ashamed of her brashness.  
“No, it’s fine. Reasonable, actually.” El softened, if only a little bit. “I understand you may want to think about it, so here’s our contact information. See you around, El.” and he handed her a card, with their phone numbers and emails neatly printed in lime green ink.  
‘What an odd color’ she thought. And she was about to wave bye to Will, but he was gone. As were Dustin, Max, and Lucas. But Mike remained. He smiled at her faintly, and when she reciprocated, he turned a rosy shade of pink before giving her a shy wave and jogging to catch up with the rest of the party.  
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
‘how can any girl with that body be so shy?’ he knew he shouldn’t have been thinking these thoughts, that they should be forbidden. He shakes his head as if to clear it, but all he can think of is her honey-brown hair, lazily thrown into a half-ponytail, finished with a scrunchie. Thinking of her in this way, as opposed to the girl he ate dirt with as a child, was weird. But not entirely unwanted.  
“Hey dickwad, hurry up or we’ll miss the show!”  
Max, once again berating him. It wasn’t helpful, especially considering he was mentally berating himself, too. But, Max was terrifying. Even though he’d known her for three years, she still kinda scared him. A little. So he picked up the pace and quickly caught up with them.  
“Your new girlfriend hold you up?” Dustin’s being a dickwad and he knows it, but Mike is irritated by it nonetheless. They pass through Scoops Ahoy, Max’s summer gig, and go through the tunnels, mirroring the route they made the summer of ‘85 when Steve worked there.  
“Yeah we were talking about how I caught you jacking off while watching Baywatch the other day,” Mike answers, flipping off the curly-haired boy. Dustin blows him a raspberry in answer. Ever since he brought up letting El into the club, the boys (and Max!) haven’t stopped mocking him fro what they presume to be a schoolboy crush. (it’s really much more but i’m foreshadowing. we should get back to the actual storyline now.) They pushed open the heavy movie theater doors and filed in one-by-one.  
“Goddammit Mike, we missed the previews!” Lucas hisses. Max quickly elbows and shushes him.  
“We still made it. Now please let me enjoy the movie in peace.” Mike answers curtly. Over the next hour-and-a-half, they all become immersed in the fictional world. After it ends, they get in the Wheeler station wagon and complain about it, even though they all secretly loved it.  
45 minutes later, after all the rounds had been made, and all the members of the party, save for Mike, are home, Mike drives home. He takes a quick shower before changing into an old Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers tee and grey pajama pants. After logging on to his Apple Color Plus 14” Display, the only thing he’d gotten all year (not that he’d complain; the day he got it, he screamed like a little girl before promptly calling The Party) he checks his mail. The top message, from an ellieloveswaffles@hotmail.com, catches his eye. (also yes! this is a real email, owned by me and if you ever wanna flail around about mileven, or even stranger things in general, don’t hesitate-i don’t bite!)  
Cautiously, he opens the message, and finds a short and to the point email.

'Hi. This is El. Um so first of all, I'm actually thinking of joining A/V, so thanks for that. But why me? And why now? We haven't spoken in 11 years.'

He should been answering the questions. Maybe a draft on a stray sheet of paper? But no. All he can think of is  
'Oh my god. El just e m a i l e d me. Me! The biggest dweeb in the land.'  
He continued reading.  
'And I caught you looking at me in the mall today. You looked...embarrassed? Ashamed? This won't do. If I'm going to be your precious little club's right-hand woman, I'm gonna need you to be comfortable with my presence. So here I am (virtually) asking you to meet me at Benny's. Am I too chicken to do it in person? Hell. Yes. So if you want, and only if you want, meet me at Benny's on Thursday at 6. See ya there maybe.  
Salutations,  
El'

Wow. She just asked him on a date. Sure, it's not a romantic date, but still! Progress. 

'Words. The most powerful existences in our universe,' he thinks.

He gets to his feet and paces a few times. Then sits back down. And gets to work.

Words. They really are the most powerful existences in our universe.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> so this is the first day of school. i'm not sure if i'm going to keep doing these chapters day by day, because that's going to take way more time than i have, and probably more than you have, dear reader.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so im kinda annoyed bc i didn't get most of what i wanted to get done, done but its been like 2 weeks and i feel bad so here *presents you this fic*. i will try to write this weekend but i can't promise anything bc i gotta lot of homework so that's rly fun for me. lmao bye
> 
> -charlotte  
ellieloveswaffles@hotmail.com

Chapter two:  
August 25, 1996  
Hawkins, Indiana  
2 hours before the end of the last chapter  
She paces around her room, thinking, and thinking, and thinking. Eventually, after realizing this will do no good, she moves to the various designated “comfy spots” in her room. She’s collapsed on her bean bag chair, biting her nails and playing Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ (lol I know this is basic but also I like it *shrugs*) when Hopper lures her into the dining room with the promise of Eggos. Hop’s shifty at dinner and El can’t figure out why. Yes, she’s a shy teenager with no friends, so it could be her. Actually, no. It’s definitely him. Their relationship is so strong she can sense unease from miles away.  
“So, Dad. Meet anybody today?” really, she’s just fishing; she doesn’t expect it to be this, but maybe he’ll open up and say more. Instead, his eyes bug out and his face turns cherry red. He coughs while swallowing a gulp of milk, causing him to choke. At this display, El grows more suspicious.  
‘Why is he hiding things from me? Maybe he’s embarrassed. Oh no. It better not be one of my friend’s parents. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no.’ she thinks, each scenario in her head getting worse. He quickly recovers and looks at her questioningly.  
“You okay, kid? You look like you just swallowed a knife”  
She immediately makes her face appear somewhat neutral and answers.  
“A knife, huh? We’re getting more creative now.” One of Hopper’s favorite past times is brainstorming dad jokes.  
A grin immediately appears on his face.  
“You bet. Finish your peas and then you can go do whatever it is teenage girls do in their rooms”  
She finishes the peas, even though they’re mushy and gross and goes to her room. She puts on a record, it’s title reading, ‘Loveless’. She boots up her computer, an old Macintosh Classic. Logs into her email account and pulls a green card out from her shirt pocket. Then, she bravely types in an address, mwheeler@hotmail.com, and begins to construct an email. An email, that’s what changes her life, and who the people that surround her are.

Hawkins, Indiana  
Monday, August 26, 1996  
6:20 AM  
_Shit. Shit shit shit._   
That’s the first thing Mike thought when he woke up 20 minutes late on the first day of school. He had stayed up late the previous night, trying to think up some witty response to El’s casual email. And he couldn’t. So he wrote a simple response, one sure to repel her forever.  
‘To El,  
Hi back! I’d love to take you up on your offer. So I guess I’ll see you at Benny’s on Thursday at 6 sharp. Should I prepare an A/V coronation speech? (I’m joking, just let me know if you actually want to join) From, Mike’  
God, reading it again is pure torture. How bad of a writer is he? (lowkey this is me with actually everything I write) The email ended, and he audibly sighed, an inevitable moment of silence before the storm that is his mother on the first day of school descended upon him and Holly. Speaking of Holly, there she was.  
“Michael Theodore Wheeler! Get off your as- butt!” she screamed up the stairs. Holly’s main babysitter this summer was tv, and ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ happened to be part of that curriculum, so she was cursing now, or starting to. (Ted always got to her for it, using Mike as an example of what not to act like. “Why not Nancy?”, he’d complained)  
He sighed again and got up, mumbling complaints about how his life was so unfair, and why couldn’t it be summer anymore? Mike padded down the stairs and slumped into the kitchen, his steps muffled by his socks.   
“God, you look terrible.” Nancy was still home, leaving for NYU with Jonathan the next week. And as much as she loved annoying him, she also cared about him deeply and discreetly handed him a mug of freshly-brewed coffee. He gulped it down quickly, making a face at its bitterness. Karen chose that moment to descend upon him, the scent of her Chanel No. 5 faint, yet present.   
“Here you go, Mike! Happy first day of your Junior year!” Mrs. Wheeler bestowed upon him a plate piled high with eggs, bacon, toast, potatoes, but most of all, waffles, his favorite food.  
“My baby’s growing up,” she mumbled, her eyes misty.  
He hurriedly ate most of it, deftly avoiding the peppers in the home fries, ‘what kinda monster?’ he started to think.

He got up and walked back up the stairs without a word, dodging the creaky ones as he passed them. He got dressed, in a pair of dark jeans, ‘Are they light black or dark grey? Or does it even matter?’ he thought to himself, and a light blue polo shirt, pairing the clothing with a pair of bright blue Adidas Gazelles. Mike put his binders in his backpack, making sure his schedule was carefully tucked inside a folder. He walked out the door, yelling,  
“Bye, mom! No! No pictures! No, not even one! Love ya, bye!”. He walked to school every day, seeing as Hawkins High and Hawkins Middle were right next to each other, and only approximately 15 minutes away by foot. He approached the sign and sighed deeply. ‘Well, it’s now or never, Wheeler’ The school was nearly open for the day, so the crowds around him started thickening, and before he knew it, he’d been pushed towards the brick building, and was deposited at its front door. Or, not so much deposited as much as prevented from moving by Maxine Mayfield, one of his best friends and biggest confidant. “Where’ve you been, Wheeler? We’re all gonna be late now” she hissed into his face. “Sorry, my mom held me up. Tryna take pictures of me like I’m 5 or something,” he grumbled, slightly pissed off at the amount of shit he was getting. This early in the morning. Don’t they know he’s not a morning person?   
“Hey, you okay?” it was Will, his oldest friend (ok i don’t actually know if he is his oldest friend. but it’s implied in s2, though lots of other fic authors say Lucas is the oldest. Yah Idk just putting it out there), concern written all over his face. Mike was normally happy and optimistic, why was he so crestfallen all of a sudden?  
“Yeah. I’m fine. Just got to bed late, that’s all.” Mike said, knowing the answer wouldn’t be enough for his nosier friends, cough, cough-Dustin!-cough. But Will didn’t push it, something Mike silently thanked him profusely for. They were about to walk in when they all heard a voice.   
“Hey, Mike! Over here!” he turned and saw her. It was El, waving towards them, paper flying in her free hand. Will turned to him, and mouthed ‘What the heck? I thought she hated us!’. Mike looked at him, with an equally confused look on his face, shrugged, and walked over to where El stood on a Hawkins High bench, her black converse meeting the words, ‘Home of the Tigers’. Her gaze fell on him, lingering a second too long to be strictly friendly, and he had to pinch himself to keep from fainting. 

Hawkins, Indiana  
Monday, August 26, 1996  
Morning  
Will’s POV  
Ok, so she’s talking to us now. Or Mike at least. I’m confused. Mike hasn’t really told us much about El, and none of us questioned it. I never really noticed her, I guess. None of the party has. But when he pitched the idea of letting her join, I had to agree. I may not _like_ like girls yet, although once they see her, there’s no reason for anybody to deny El’s beauty. She’s gorgeous. With the shoulder-length, wavy chestnut hair, and those wide doe eyes, I can see why all of a sudden Mike’s started noticing her again.   
Course, she covers all that in layers of makeup and a seemingly permanent scowl, one that I notice almost immediately disappears when Mike strolls over, replaced by what can only be described as a devious grin, one that ensures she’s up to no good. But I’m not looking in her direction to look at her. I’m looking at _them_. Hawkins High has its very own JV football team, and it’s clear they’ve been conditioning over the summer. All rugged good looks, lean muscle, and-oh!-did Josh Whiteman grow a beard? Wow, all I can say is h-  
“Dude. He’ll be fine. Not like he needs any help. God, look at him. Has he been this bad with girls since Carrie? Let’s go, I don’t have time to be waiting like this.” it’s Lucas, tapping me on the shoulder, reminding me of the task at hand: schedules. We go over our schedules, and I’ll admit: we look like a flock of 13-year-old girls trying to make sure we have at least one class together. One precious class. Then, suddenly, the 5-minute bell rings and we all scurry inside.   
“Mike, you coming?” I ask, but I already know the answer.  
“Coming in a minute. See you at lunch,” he answers.  
In a moment of weakness, I see the school year ahead. We all end up alive, so that’s great. But at the end of that tunnel, during our end-of-year D&D marathon, there are 3 more figures visible to the eye. I can’t tell who they are, though. It’s too blurry. But what I can see, is that one of them’s on Mike’s lap, one Dustin’s playing with the hair of, and one I’m in the hold of. Oh god. This is going to be a long year.

Hawkins, Indiana  
Monday, August 26, 1996  
7:45 AM

God, that Hopper girl has serious problems. I just thought she was weird, maybe emo. But now I know how much I underestimated her. Turns out, she and Wheeler have the hots for each other. Oh, of course, they haven't actually said anything about it. Hell, I haven't even spoken to the girl. All I know about her is that her dad's the chief of police and she and Mike used to be friends. That's all he’s told us. Actually, he didn't even tell us that much. He only told us the police part, and that I already knew. So, my naturally correct instincts told me there was more to the story. And I'm sure there’s more than what I already know, but its all I could pry out of Lucas.  
anyways, about the ~crush~ they so obviously have for one another. When he saw us this morning, he grumbled and complained about his lack of sleep. When he saw El (that's her name, right?), he looked at her as if the sun shined out of her ass. And she looked at him similarly. When I got to school, she was sitting on that metal bench, wearing ripped jeans with fishnets underneath (which, why?) and some sort of band tee, with the word Pinkerton on it. Her hair surrounded her face, making it almost impossible to see her face, covered in kohl and dark lipstick, her feet (so small!) encased in black Converse. With headphones plugged into the jack of her Walkman, and her head bopping around to whatever she listens to, it's a wonder she saw Mike at all. He got up and walked over, and if the way his face moved from the view of his back is any indication, he smiled at her. When El smiled back, Max almost laughed out loud. No, she had no reason to pay any attention to El, ever, but just by seeing the little of her she had, Max knew El was not one for smiling.   
'They'd be cute together!' there's a nagging in the back of her head, something she chooses to ignore. Because underneath all that, Max can tell El is a beautiful young woman. So why would she go for Wheeler, dorkiest dork in all the land? Sure, from some angles, he's handsome,(not that she'd ever admit that. Lucas' ego would be bruised beyond repair. Also read: majorly embarrassing) but for the most part, he's a tall, lanky kid with no muscles whatsoever, and his dark hair always seemed disheveled, no matter how much Max knew he tried to tame it.  
Suddenly, a big, strong hand is tapping her shoulder, and she can't help but sigh at the simple greeting.  
_Lucas>_. Her knight in shining armor, here to save her from life. When he leans down to press his lips against hers, the jolt of electricity she feels is almost too much to handle. They pull away, only to be met with the withering glares of both Dustin and Will.  
"God, get a room, guys," Dustin says, a shit-eating grin seemingly permanently etched on his face (spoiler: it isn't permanent. At least until Mike gets called over to El). When the 5-minute bell rings, Max runs over to her locker, stopping to drop off everything but her science textbook. As she walks to class, flanked by Will and Lucas, she can’t help but feel suspicious of El. What does she want from them, and why now, unaware that these were the two boys next to her feel the same way

Hawkins, Indiana  
Monday, August 26, 1996  
1st period

Dustin **loved** school. Learning new things excited him, and his best friends there made the experience ten times better than without them. So on the first day of school, he got up 10 minutes earlier than he should've, and as a result, got 10 extra minutes to get ready. He spent that time organizing his backpack, because **of course** he did. Dustin was always the "Boy Scout" of the group, and always prepared. When the schedules and locker combinations were released, he was the first to memorize them and the first to harangue the Party members to share theirs. When he found out Mike and he had pre-calculus together, he was ecstatic. Yes, the Party hung out a lot, but he found himself hanging out with Steve Harrington, his friend since 8th grade. He got to school and found Max and Lucas making out. (Later that day, while doing homework, Dustin shuddered at the image ingrained in his mind.) When Mike got called away, he thought nothing of it, figuring El was asking about joining A/V, something he didn't entirely oppose 'We could use some fresh meat around here,' he thought when Mike pitched the idea in his basement last week. But when the bell rang, Mike waved them off, joy visible on his face. When Mike **finally** showed up to class, El was next to him, giggling at something Mike said. Dustin turned around in his chair and coughed making eyes at him. Eyes that said 'what the hell, dude?' and Mike shrugged, gesturing towards El first, then their teacher, Mr. Levy. Dustin simply rolled his eyes and swung around so he was facing the chalkboard.

The next few days went like this, the Party members hanging out together with El feeling awkward to intrude, and Max feeling unsure and suspicious. Until Thursday, the **~date~**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> k so this was kinda bad i think. idk ive had a rly long week so love that for me. let me know what you think, share this around, and more importantly, FOLLOW THE STRANGER THINGS WRITERS ON TWITTER (not sure what their handle is). their content. is. hilarious. also they've been giving out s4 hints so that's real fun. ok im hungry so bye
> 
> -charlotte  
ellieloveswaffles@hotmail.com

**Author's Note:**

> so you survived. how was that twist, man? lol jk it was probably visible a mile away, but we gotta start the story somewhere right? if you have any feedback you need to get off your chest or just wanna chat about st, email me at  
ellieloveswaffles@hotmail.net  
...yes i made it an actual email so now we can talk! yay! get excited for more mileven interactions later on... the next chapter should be v exciting! also, just so you know, i'm thinking of u[dating this every 1-2 weeks. i would do more, but school is really kicking my behind this year, and ya know...school first and all that jazz. yeah imma go eat a pop tart. see ya  
-charlotte  
ellieloveswaffles@hotmail.com  
(EMAIL ME PLEASE I HAVE NO FRIENDZ) lol no but actually do its important to be to know that what im writing is stomachable :)


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